In This Blog:
Yet another founder has joined the million-dollar club!
Not feeling that same shock factor? It’s because more people are reaching that milestone today than they were a year ago, and you’ve probably come across stories like this more often lately.
Like any curious, opportunity-seeking owner, you type: “How do High Net Worth Individuals invest?”
Top pages are barraged with blogs from investment firms, but they aren’t relatable. They’re speaking to audiences that work with private bankers. Most founders? They don’t.
Like you, they’re figuring this out on their own.
Headlines can be misleading, too. The focus is usually on the $30 million+ portfolio. Real catchy. But not real helpful to SMBs when your business is doing well, yet you have no long-term wealth or investment plan.
How to gradually move from wealth concentrated in one business to wealth spread across multiple investments? What are HNIWs doing with their portfolios and getting their businesses on the HNBS list?
This article tackles exactly what business owners need to know.
How do high net worth individuals invest their money really?
High-net-worth individuals usually invest across multiple asset classes instead of relying on a single investment. While public stocks remain the largest part of most portfolios, they also allocate money to real estate, private equity, bonds, cash reserves, and other alternative investments to spread risk and build long-term wealth. As their net worth grows, many gradually increase their exposure to private investments rather than concentrating all their wealth in the stock market.
What is Considered as High Net Worth?
Staggeringly, obviously wealthy. That’s the phrase, isn’t it? The one that gives an HNWI its status. An apt assumption, to a degree. However, an incorrect, inaccurate generalization.
Lists online and on socials about the Top 20 Wealthiest people aren’t the standard. In fact, there’s a more reliable Standard HNWI Threshold.
High Net-Worth Individual Tiers:
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Mass Affluent: $100,000 to under $1 million in liquid, investable assets
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High Net Worth Individual (HNWI): $1 million or more
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Very High Net Worth Individual (VHNWI): $5 million or more
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Ultra High Net Worth Individual (UHNWI): $30 million or more under most definitions (some organizations use $10 million as the starting point; the threshold can vary by source)
How Many Americans Have A $1,000,000 Net Worth?
It’s the question piquing the interest of anyone who wants to get there. According to the World Wealth Report 2026:
The US added 736,000 new millionaires in 2025, more than any other country. It raised the tally for the US HNWI population by +9.2%.
Similar Question: What Percentage of Americans Have $1,000,000 Net Worth?
The total’s currently at 8.7 million. 8.7 million American individuals have a $1M net worth, as of early 2026.
HNWI wealth made its largest jump globally since 2018. A record $98.3 trillion, up 8.7% in a single year. The 250,000 global UHNWI population grew 9.4%.
The ultra-wealthy (UHNWI population’s at ~250,000 globally) are standing out even more in all the right ways, with numbers growing by 9.4% in 2025. They’re now the fastest-growing wealth tier for the second year in a row.
UHNWI population (~250,000 globally) grew 9.4% and is the fastest-growing wealth segment for the second consecutive year, capturing a disproportionate share of the gains.
Wealth concentration point: the top 1% of HNWIs hold 34.8% of all HNWI wealth.
HNWIs and HNWBs: Before You Diversify, Differentiate
Before we start talking about investment strategies, we need to clear up a common misconception: the value of your business isn’t the same as the amount of wealth you can actually invest.
Something you’ll learn to differentiate as we go along.
What is a High Net Worth Individual (HNWI)?
A person with at least $1 million in liquid, investable assets: cash, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, brokerage accounts, and other marketable investments—or anything that converts to cash quickly.
What’s not counted: primary residences, collectibles, and business equity. Not until they’ve been converted into cash, by selling part of the business or receiving cash from an exit.
Defining Business Value: What is a HNBW?
A company’s valuation (what it would sell for, what investors recently valued it at) isn’t the same thing as liquid net worth. Business value reflects what the business is worth. Different from what its owner can actually access or invest in today.
In short, your business can be worth $6 million, and you still might not qualify as an HNWI. That’s because the value is tied up in the business and is separate from your personal investment accounts.
From here on, we’re talking about your liquid net worth, the number that shapes your investment options.
Bonus Read: Here’s How to Build Wealth as an Online Business Owner, and learn about How Does Kalshi Work (and why owners are looking to prediction markets for business insights).
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Have questions? Drop our team a line anytime.
What Do High Net Worth Individuals Invest In?
Based on the current U.S. SERP (SmartAsset, Long Angle, Origin Investments, BlackRock, etc.), here’s a table of what high net worth individuals actually invest in. The “why” can be found in the table below the first.
Both bring together recurring themes from top-ranking sources as a whole, instead of just from a single firm’s analysis/opinion.
Drawn from Long Angle’s 2026 High-Net-Worth Asset Allocation Report (233 investors with an average net worth of over $17 million), Capgemini’s World Wealth Report 2026, and SmartAsset’s HNWI portfolio estimates.
Where High Net Worth Individuals Invest Their Money and WHY:
How Do High Net Worth Individuals Invest? (How the Wealthy Really Invest)
There’s a traditional model that’s been around for decades. The 60/40 portfolio, where it’s 60% stocks and 40% bonds. Still applicable today? Not if you want to invest the way HNWIs are.
Long Angle did an analysis on 233 American respondents with an average net worth of $17 million (High-Net-Worth Asset Allocation Report), and the ratio’s looking different today:
Bonds? Not shrunk, but partly replaced by an entirely different category of asset (private and alternative investments as a whole). That alternative isn’t fixed, and grows with net worth:
Private and Alternative Investment Allocation by Net Worth Tier:
At the $25M+ tier, private company equity alone makes up 21% of net worth, more than triple the 6% share it holds at the $2M–$10M level. The wealthier the investor, the less their portfolio looks like something you could open through an app in ten minutes.
Are People Moving Their Money Out Of The Stock Market?
Wealthy investors are still putting most of their investment money into stocks. Around 60% of the average HNWI portfolio remains in public equities. What’s been helping drive returns? AI-related companies.
Is Crypto Taking Over Private Equity? (Will Private Equity Ever Warm to Crypto?)
Crypto now outpaces private equity in adoption among high net worth investors:
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42% hold crypto. 39% hold private equity funds
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Among investors under 40, crypto makes up 15% of the entire private and alternative portion of the portfolio
But that phrase ‘takeover.” Too much of a finality. Few tech-focused funds are still investing in blockchain for everyday business applications.
Private equity firms have become much more cautious about crypto and blockchain since the 2022 market downturn. Many have pulled completely. Some specialized investors, on the other hand, continue funding blockchain technology.
They’re backing blockchain projects they believe people and businesses will actually use.
What Percentage of Net Worth Should Be in Stocks vs. Alternative Investments?
There’s no single right answer here. The right mix depends on how much of your wealth is already behind you and how much is still ahead of you.
The traditional 60/40 split no longer holds at this wealth tier. Per Long Angle’s 2026 High-Net-Worth Asset Allocation Report, the benchmark has shifted toward roughly 60% public equities, 10% bonds and cash, and 30% private and alternative investments, and that private/alternative share isn’t fixed. It grows with net worth:
Most successful business owners have 60% to 80% of their wealth tied up in their company. That means they’re already heavily invested in a single asset, even if it doesn’t feel that way.
What To Do: Instead of applying the table to your entire net worth, use it as a guide for the money you can actually invest: your cash. Stocks. Retirement accounts. Other liquid assets.
As your business grows or you eventually sell part of it, think gradually diversifying beyond the company, and not all at once.
Should You Have More Than One Financial Advisor?
You may need more than one. Wealthy investors don’t get this diversification from one advisor. 88% of HNWIs work with more than one wealth management firm, specifically to get access to alternative investments that a single firm can’t offer.
Back in 39% of HNWIs kept all their business with one firm. 2026 has that at only 19%.
More firms mean more statements, which also means more login portals. Then, more K-1s on different schedules. These need a whole lot of constant, consistent tracking.
For most founders, that specialist is already with them, cross-referencing spreadsheets. And they’ve done hiring remotely through managed providers like Remote Staff.
We’ve been doing it for over 18 years, making sure founders get the long-term support they need from offshore Executive Assistants or Pre-vetted Remote Staff for Admin and Operations, who provide the financial support growing businesses rely on.
Related Read: We also want to help you build a dynamic, effective team and work culture. Here are articles on How to Prevent Manager Burnout and Mental Health for Remote Workers.
FAQs About How Do High Net Worth Individuals Invest
What is considered High Net Worth? (What net worth do you need to be considered high net worth?)
You need at least $1 million in liquid, investable assets, cash, brokerage accounts, and bonds. This doesn’t include your primary residence, collectibles, and business equity. Most private banks, along with Capgemini’s World Wealth Report, agree on this threshold and continue to use it today.
How much of my net worth should be in the stock market? (What is a good % of net worth to have invested in stocks?)
If you’re benchmarking against high net worth investors, about 60% of your investable (liquid) assets are in stocks. Typcially. The rest should be spread across bonds, cash, and alternative investments. Among current HNWIs, the average portfolio runs roughly this way:
60% public equities, 10% bonds and cash, and 30% private and alternative investments (Long Angle’s 2026 High-Net-Worth Asset Allocation Report). If most of your net worth is tied up in a business you own, apply this split to your liquid assets only.
What is the difference between HNW and ultra HNW?
An HNWI holds at least $1 million in liquid assets. For a UHNWI, at least $30 million. Though it sounds like the amount or size is the main factor here, it’s actually “growth rate.” The number of ultra-wealthy individuals rose 9.4% in 2025. They’ve been growing faster than the broader high net worth population (for the second straight year).
How do founders diversify when most of their wealth is in the business?
Founders typically hold 60% to 80% of their net worth in company equity, an inherently concentrated, illiquid position. Diversification usually starts by extracting a fixed percentage of profit or owner draw into liquid accounts on a regular schedule, rather than waiting for a full exit. Each real liquidity event, from a raise to a strong profit year, is a natural point to move a portion of that value into diversified holdings.
How to diversify financially as a small business owner? (How do founders diversify when most of their wealth is in the business?)
Most business owners 70% to 80% of their net worth tied up in the company itself (Exit Planning Institute). The first layer is usually a traditional investment portfolio: stocks, bonds, and cash reserves. Instead of putting every extra dollar back into the business, they start investing some of it elsewhere.
Some founders also sell a small share of the business to free up cash while staying in control. You don’t have to wait until you sell the entire company before you start diversifying your wealth.
Extra Read: Opportunities await in the sudden surge in demand for renewables. Find out how to make money with Virtual Power Plants, Battery Energy Storage System Market Trends, and Solar Trackers US Guide.
How to Invest The Way High Net Work Individuals Do
…but tailor it to your financial structure. Diversification works only if someone’s consistently keeping track. For American SMBs, that’s difficult to follow through on. Transactions keep going, and operations don’t stall. Investing becomes another task on top of an already full list.
Don’t let that stop you. When smarter owners are already working with remote professionals to do part of the tedious work, so should you.
The strategy’s evidence-based. You’ve seen the data, and they’re from real research, real HNIWs. The one thing left to do is to put this to work.
Want to learn more about what roles you’ll need as you build your investment plan? Call us or Request a Callback today.
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Vaune Everis Cura has always been a writer in the truest sense, drawn to the art both as a personal creative pursuit and as a profession. Her experience penning content across digital marketing spaces and collaborating with business owners and market shapers has broadened her craft to include strategic direction and SEO insight. Having spent years with the InterContinental Hotels Group before stepping boldly into freelancing, she understands that at the centre of it all are genuine, meaningful brand–customer relationships built on purposeful, human content.
